After a while, a middle-aged man was called over. He was wearing coarse linen clothes and barefoot. He looked a little dull but looked pretty good. His surname was Zhou. He was named Zhou Da because he was the eldest in the family.
"Young Master, what are your orders?" Zhou Dazuo asked, bowing his head.
"I need some wooden boards, about six feet long, three feet wide, and five inches thick. They can be used as desks to place items. It doesn't matter if they are rough. There are six pieces in total. Can they be made in an hour?"
"There are big trees in the back hill. It's possible to cut down one. I need some help."
"Huang Lao, find a few more people to help. It must be completed before dark."
"You guys go help, and you have to hurry." Huang Lao pointed to a group of people and explained.
More than a dozen men hurried away. Qin Huaidao pointed to the eaves of the ancestral hall and continued: "Find some stones, big or small, the more the better. Then get some clay and build a stove for cooking. The ancestral hall will requisition it first and give it to everyone later."
Build a more splendid ancestral hall, with a brick building and two courtyards."
"It's just for use, no problem, I'll make arrangements right now." Huang Lao said nonchalantly. The blue-brick and tile-roofed house only had two doors into the yard. I didn't dare to think that even if the earthen stove was demolished in the future, it could still be used as an ancestral hall.
Qin Huaidao did not explain much, thinking that the village suddenly had more than two hundred people. The first problem was not food, as tens of thousands of taels of silver were enough to support it for a long time, but housing.
It is very inconvenient for several people to squeeze into one room, and the rooms are in a dilapidated state, with air leakage everywhere and may collapse at any time, killing people. Qin Huaidao looked at the low thatched house not far away and was very worried.
Winter will begin in a month or two, and the housing problem must be solved as soon as possible. It is not practical to buy one. We don’t have that much money, and there is no place to buy it, so we can only build it ourselves.
But Qin Huaidao looked down on the low thatched mud houses, which were laborious and labor-intensive. They were not safe and uncomfortable to live in. He had to get a brick house, or else - burn bricks or tiles by yourself?
It is not difficult to bake bricks. The clay is mixed with water and made into bricks. It is fired in a brick kiln for about ten to fifteen days to make bricks. The same is true for tiles. There is no shortage of clay in Qinjiazhuang, and there is no shortage of manpower. There are hundreds of
The man has nothing to do. There is no problem in building a kiln, but wood cannot be burned and the temperature is difficult to reach. Coal is needed, and coke is better.
Coke can be made with earth. You only need to dig a rectangular pit, put bituminous coal into it and burn it, then fill it with soil to isolate the air. When all the gas is burned out and no longer smokes, coke will be formed. The quality is average and it is very poor.
Environmental protection, but I don’t care about it. The question is where to find coal?
In my memory, there is no coal mountain near Chang'an.
Just as he was thinking about it, Mr. Huang hurried over, with a strange expression on his face, and whispered: "Young Master, a large group of people came from outside the village. They looked very impressive. They claimed to be Princess Yuzhang and Princess Jinyang. They were looking for Young Master to see a doctor.
I offer you 10,000 taels of silver and two cartloads of precious medicinal materials as medical fees."
You don’t need 10,000 taels of silver to see a doctor, let alone two large carts of precious medicinal materials. Is it Li Er looking for an excuse to compensate the more than 200 women? The question is, where can I see a doctor, in case one of them disappears in Qinjiazhuang?
, everyone in Qinjiazhuang can't even think about it. Isn't this adding chaos?
Qin Huaidao said quickly: "Just say I'm not here and let them go back."
Mr. Huang showed a wry smile: "Young Master, a person who calls herself Princess Yuzhang said that if the Young Master does not see them, they will wait in the village and settle down wherever they want, without disturbing everyone. They also said that no matter whether they can
Once cured, it will have nothing to do with the young master in the future."
"Once a person enters the village, how can he say that it has nothing to do with him." Qin Huaidao was a little angry.
"I am also worried, but the other party said that they came here under an order. If you ignore it, you are resisting the order. No matter what happens, you will not be able to escape from it." Huang Lao reminded.
"It's a shame." Qin Huaidao said angrily.
"How about I try again and see if I can invite the person back."
"Forget it, since people are here, they definitely have no intention of going back. Let them come over. Isn't there an open space behind the ancestral hall? Set up there and tell everyone not to get close, especially to watch the children, so as not to bump into the princess." Qin Huaidao was depressed.
The ground explained.
Mr. Huang agreed and hurried away.
Not long after, a huge motorcade slowly entered the village. Two of the carriages were served by palace maids, followed by some carriages pulling supplies. There were guards in front and behind, watching the surroundings warily. Under the guidance of Mr. Huang, they went to the back of the ancestral hall.
Stop in the open space.
Qin Huaidao was too lazy to take care of it. There were more than two hundred people waiting to eat. He ordered people to dig clay, pour water and stamp it with their feet. Farmers sent stones one by one. Old people, women and children also came to help. Soon they piled up into a mountain. Everyone was there.
Under the command of Qin Huaidao, three simple earthen stoves were built with stones and clay, and several low walls were built. One side of the wooden board was the desk, which was convenient for placing various things.
Jia Youcai and his guards brought several large carts full of daily necessities. Three pots were also brought and placed on the earthen stove in Xinlai. They were just the right size.
"Light the fire and bake."
Qin Huaidao gave an order, and everyone brought dry firewood to light a fire. Natural air drying was too time-consuming and they couldn't afford to wait. It was not a big problem to bake it slowly with fire. It was just a temporary improvisation anyway.
When the clay in the earthen stove was almost baked, Luo Zhang returned with the purchased materials. A long motorcade lined up outside the village. Everyone came to help unload the goods. Even two hundred women came to help. Food was piled in the ancestral hall, and sheep
Leave it to a group of older children to take care of you temporarily.
After the supplies were unloaded, Qin Huaidao announced that he would invite everyone to a meal. With an order, everyone came over to help. The three large pots were all used to stew the mutton. The noodles were taken to other farmers' homes to make steamed buns. The quilts were handed out, and the village was suddenly full of people.
It was all filled with laughter and laughter, and it was more lively than the Chinese New Year.
Eating meat is too far away and unfamiliar to many people. Looking at the three large iron pots bubbling, everyone swallowed their saliva fiercely, their eyes were shining, and many children even drooled. Qin Huaidao was heartbroken.
It's so blocked, it's just a mouthful of meat, it's really...
The steamed buns came out of the pot quickly, and the mutton was stewed. Everyone lined up, holding the newly purchased pottery bowls in their hands, and everyone was smiling. Mr. Huang personally divided the meat for everyone. He was worried that it would not be enough, so he only gave a few pieces to each person. No one complained.
Put a few steamed buns on the side and start eating.
Xue Rengui came to Qin Huaidao with a bowl and whispered: "Young Master, where is the princess?"
Qin Huaidao was busy all the time and didn't pay attention to the princess. He took the pottery bowl and went straight to it, picked up a piece of meat and started eating it. While looking at the back of the ancestral hall, he couldn't help but feel a little suspicious in his heart. He didn't even show his head after coming for so long.
This princess is not an arrogant, domineering or difficult person to get along with.
The dissatisfaction in my heart immediately dissipated a lot.
After eating the meat in the pottery bowl in a few mouthfuls, Qin Huaidao came to the earthen stove and picked up a large bowl from the table: "Huang Lao, pick some good ones and I will send them to the princess."
Mr. Huang picked some fat and thin ones and filled a large bowl. Qin Huaidao took it and saw that everyone was staring at the pot with unsatisfied thoughts. Three large pots were not enough, so he said: "Mr. Huang, let's stew three more pots."
"You can't do that, young master. Meat essence is expensive. Life must go by slowly."
"It's okay, listen to me, I'll replenish everyone's health."
Qin Huaidao said nothing and walked towards the back of the ancestral hall with a large pottery bowl of meat.